And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him....Josh. vii. 19.

THE Lord our God is a jealous God; jealous of his own glory and his people's good. Sin is contrary to both. God so loves his people, that he will not suffer sin to reign in them. Wilful, allowed sin, however secret, he will chastise for, and bring the soul to confess and repent of. Though sin shall not bring any one of God's dear children to hell, yet it may bring a hell into the conscience for a season. Sin may break the peace of mind, though it cannot break the covenant of peace.

Wilful transgression causes the Lord to hide his face or frown upon his dear children. This weakens their hands, dejects their hearts, and the enemy gets power against them. This was the case with Achan; therefore the accursed thing must be found out, confessed, and put away. Methinks Achan's case should remind the believer of his carnal sinful nature. It is from hence spring all his troubles. Indulging its sinful motions brings grief to the soul; encouraging an opinion of its goodness and righteousness, is dissembling with God: it is hiding somewhat in the "earth in the midst of the tent," which is abominable to him, and robs him of his glory. The flesh, with its lusts and corruptions, though we may think of them as Achan did of the Babylonish garment, that they are goodly, yet they are accursed by the law of God. Therefore we are, through the Spirit, "to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts." Like the wedge of gold, and the shekels of silver, all must be given up; we must retain none of its riches and treasures. How often has our flesh made our hands hang down, our knees faint, and our hearts troubled!

O christian! thou son of the Most High, give glory to the Lord God of Israel; hide nothing in thy earth, in thy vile nature from thy Lord and Saviour; make confession unto Jesus of all that is in thee, vile and abominable, wretched and hell-deserving as thou art by nature. Give Jesus all the glory of redemption, justification and salvation. Expect no good from the flesh, in the pleasures and enjoyments of sense; seek it all in Jesus, and from his Spirit. As Achan troubled Israel, he must therefore perish in the valley of Achor. So, christian, the flesh that troubles thy spirit is shortly to fall and die under the sentence for sin. But, saith the Lord, "I will give the valley of Achor (trouble) for a door of hope."....Hosea ii. 15. "Though the body shall be sown in dishonor; yet it shall be raised in glory." For, saith Jesus, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who liveth and believeth in me, shall never die."....John xi. 25, 26.

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip....Heb. ii. 1.

THE body receives little nourishment, if its food hastily pass through it. To health and strength proper digestion is necessary. Divine truths, eagerly heard and soon forgot, do not comfort, nor strengthen the soul. When the babe Jesus was lying in the manger, and the shepherds had told the glorious things they had seen and heard concerning him, many wONDERED. But it was the happinessof the virgin mother, "she kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."....Luke ii. 19. We can never be comfortable in Jesus, but while the truths concerning him dwell in our minds.

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Many complain of bad memories. They can retain but little of the doctrines of grace. True, Jesus saves none for the sake of a strong memory; neither will his loving heart cast off any because of a weak one. Yet it is our daily interest to take the wholesome advice which the Spirit of wisdom dictates. His word is our direction; his gracious cautions are necessary to prevent evils. What he teacheth is profitable to the soul's health. It behoves us to give the most earnest heed to the truths of Jesus. They demand all our attention. Pondering them in our minds, dwelling on them in our hearts continually, tend (through grace) to keep us watchful against what would rob us of their comfort, and to strengthen our memories, to retain the sweet sense of them....Hence a holy fear will be excited, lest at any time we should let them slip, or run out of our minds; as water does through a leaky vessel; and so we lose the savour of them from our hearts.

Sudden flashes of comfort, hasty transports of joy, are dubious as to their cause. It is by the word of truth we are to try them; and it is by that we shall be able to stand. The gospel of grace inspires with courage. Through the knowledge of Jesus we shall conquer. That Spirit, which excites to diligence and care, will establish in the truth. Studious souls, in the school of Jesus, make the most established and lively disciples. The opposition of enemies to the truths of electing love, Jesus' righteousness, the final salvation of his redeemed children, &c. shall do us no harm. This shall be over-ruled by grace to the rooting and establishing the faith of God's children. The oak is rooted stronger, by the blast that shakes it. The more we see of the evil of sin, the pride and unbelief of our corrupt natures, and the subtle devices of Satan, so much the more dear and precious shall we esteem the doctrines of free-grace, and the finished salvation of Jesus. And we shall prove ourselves his true disciples, "if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."....Heb. iii. 6.

He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul....Psalm cvi. 15.

WHEN the sunshine of worldly ease, and a greater portion of the good things of this life than he was wont to enjoy, fell to the lot of that champion of Jesus of blessed memory, LUTHER; it excited a holy fear and jealousy in his heart, which made him cry out, 'Lord, I will not be put off with these things.' However pleasant and agreeable worldly prosperity may be to the flesh, yet indulging and pam pering the body begets and feeds many disorders and humors which are destructive to the health of the soul. The body without exercise naturally looses its strength and vigor. Afflictions are the exercise of the soul; though they be dreaded because grievous to the flesh, yet are they profitable to the spirit; or else not one of God's dear children should know what a single trouble is: for they are all the allotments of covenant love. In our prayers we often imitate James and John, "we know not what we ask." We ask amiss, and yet are ready to complain that the Lord doth not answer us according to our desire; though the very thing we asked would have proved as a serpent, to bite and destroy us.

O what patience doth our God and Father exercise towards the froward dispositions of his dear, but untoward children! It would be bad for the best of us, if we were our own carvers. Let Peter have his request, and Jesus shall not die; then Peter and every soul of man must have perished. It is our mercy that the Lord sometimes answers prayers with denials; he most blesses us by not granting our petitions. Saints long and pray to be entirely delivered from the body of sin; but though the Lord doth not take it away, yet he gives what is better, grace to subdue our corruptions; and withal subdues pride, and keeps the soul dependent upon himself, which is best of all. Thy will, thy glory should ever set bounds to our petitions. The health and prosperity of the immortal soul, is infinitely to be preferred to the enjoyment and happiness of the perishing body. Gay clothing, with empty pockets, and a lean, starving body, is a distressed condition; but how much more deplorable! how awfully to be dreaded, the state of many professors! They have got what they eagerly sought, and earnestly requested; the riches, honors, and pleasures of this world; but alas! their precious souls are in a lean, starving, famishing condition. Can the comforts and joys of a perishing world compensate the want of a sense of God's love, the reviving grace of our Lord Jesus, and the comforting fellowship of the Holy Ghost? We should be ever concerned, in all our petitions, to make the enjoyment of God the chief, the ultimate end. "Hearken diligently unto me, eat that which is good; and let your soul delight itself in fatness."....Isa. lv. 2.

Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures....Luke xxiv. 45.

THOUGH Jesus had captivated the hearts, and drawn the affections of his disciples to himself, before his sufferings and death, yet they had very little knowledge in the mysteries of his kingdom, and of the mystery of iniquity which worked in them: they were but weak in the understanding of the holy scriptures; hence arose their diffidence and suspicions concerning him. He left them scattered through fear and unbelief, and he finds them full of unreasonable doubts and troubles: for this he reproves them, "O fools, and slow of heart tő believe all that the prophets have spoken." But amidst all their weakness and ignorance there was a sweet and secret confidence in their hearts. Jesus had apprehended them as prisoners of love, and they were kept by an invisible power, that they might apprehend that for which also they were apprehended of Christ. Though he made the hearts of two of his disciples "burn within them," yet there was more warmth than light; a transient heat of affections, but not a settled understanding and judgment in the scriptures. Thus it is with many of the lambs of the flock now. They have been taught to call "Jesus Lord by the Holy Ghost." They feel some flashes of comfort, but they are oftener exercised with doubts and fears, jealousies and surmises; but as the Saviour hath loved them, and called them to himself, he will establish their hearts in the faith. He not only warms the affections, but opens the understanding. Many mistake here: not the fire of our passions is to govern us, but our clear understanding of the scriptures. By them our faith is strengthened, our judgment established, our love increased, our hearts comforted, our holiness promoted. Thus Jesus honored the scriptures of truth: so he gave his first resurrection-blessing to his weak, but sincere disciples,

"Jesus died for our sins, and rose again according to the scriptures.".... 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. His whole work on earth was to fulfil the scriptures. So he honored them: and herein he has left disciples an example. Prize the word of truth, study it constantly, pray over it daily. By the word of truth the Spirit teacheth knowledge. The scriptures are the sword of the Spirit: Satan will fly before them, because they testify of Jesus. Here, O soul, is an evidence of a true disciple. Jesus hath opened his understanding to understand the scriptures. Hath the Lord thus blessed thee? Then thou seest Jesus to be the sum and substance of the scriptures, therefore thou wilt esteem them as thy companion, thy guide, and thy familiar friend. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope."....Rom. xv. 4.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: to him be glory both now and for

ever. Amen....2 Pet. iii. 18.

CHRISTIAN, know thy danger.

Thou art ever liable to be led

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away by the error of the wicked one, to decline from the TRUTH, and to fall away from thy stedfastness in the faith of Jesus. tions warn of this; they tend to quicken stronger exercises of faith and love, as a remedy against this; yea, through the influences of the Spirit they cause new-born souls to grow and increase with the increase of God, just as reviving showers of rain and warm influences of the sun, cause the fruits of the earth to grow. It behoves every follower of the Lamb to consider this; to wrestle with the God of all grace, lest he grow faint in his mind, his hands hang down, and his knees become feeble; but that he "grow strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus." Behold the inseparable connection between grace and Jesus, knowledge and growth, No growth in grace but by the knowledge of Jesus. The more thou growest up in thy HEAD, Christ, the more thou wilt grow out of hope in thyself, out of conceit with thyself, out of the reach of the SELF-RIGHTEOUSLY WICKED.

To know and experience the grace of God in Christ, is the special mercy of poor sinners. To grow in the faith of free-grace truths, and in the knowledge of the love of Jesus, is our richest consolation, our highest joy. Hast thou experienced a little of this special grace? Hast thou tasted that the Lord is gracious? In this consists thy present blessedness, peace, and joy. But, alas! what is thy knowledge and experience, but like a drop of water to the vast ocean. Art thou hungering after more grace, thirsting after greater knowledge of Jesus? Verily, thou shalt be filled...."filled with all the fulness of God." It is the nature of grace, the property of the knowledge of Jesus, to create an insatiable thirst in the soul after deeper experiences of it: hence means of grace will be diligently used, the scriptures, which testify of Jesus, constantly searched, the gospel of grace highly prized, the sincere milk of the word desired, and the influences of the Spirit implored. Why all this? That the soul may grow in the faith and love of Jesus; that the bud of grace may blossom and bear ripe fruit to the glory of God, The smallest knowledge of Jesus shall be increased till the believing babe in Christ comes "in the unity of the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," until faith is turned into sight, hope swallowed up in fruition, and the love of an unseen Jesus on earth shall ripen unto the fullest enjoyment of him in heaven; and all this to the glory of God the Father, who hath "made us accepted in his beloved Son."....Eph. i. 6.